PEAK Performances director Wiley Hausam has announced the development of the new musical “Kill the Whale.” PEAK will produce a developmental workshop of the Daniel Henri Emond-scored rock opera adapted from Herman Melville’s classic 1851 novel “Moby-Dick.” “Kill the Whale” will be workshopped at PEAK’s Alexander Kasser Theater on the Montclair State University campus in Montclair, New Jersey this July.
The cast of “Kill the Whale” will feature Tony Award nominee Amber Gray and Grace McLean.
Emond, a 2023 Jonathan Larson grant recipient, is the composer of the musical “The Plague” and co-composer of “Dawn.” His new musical about Sigmund Freud will have a concert premiere at Adelphi University in September. He tours as a banjoist with the band Blue-Eyed Bettys.
Hausam is no stranger to developing new musicals, having worked at the Public Theater as a producer and dramaturg. During his tenure, Michael John LaChiusa’s “The Wild Party,” “Bring in ’Da Noise, Bring in ’Da Funk” and “The Tempest” all transferred to Broadway.
Gray received a 2019 Tony nomination for her featured turn as Persephone in “Hadestown.” She is slated to play Carina in the upcoming Manhattan Theatre Club production of “Eureka Day.” Gray made her Broadway debut in 2016’s “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812.”
McLean also made her Main Stem debut in “Great Comet.” She played the Queen in 2023’s “Bad Cinderella” and currently plays Woodrow Wilson in “Suffs.”
“Kill the Whale”’s score is available here.
